Radhastami Lecture 2014

13 Dec Radhastami Lecture 2014

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS

Founder-Ācārya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

The following lecture by His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami was given in Bhaktivedanta Manor, London, on Radhastami, 2 September 2014 .

Hare Kṛṣṇa. Today is Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s appearance day, Rādhāṣṭhami mahotsava, therefore we selected a special verse from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Thirtieth Chapter, The Gopis Search for Kṛṣṇa, Text twenty-eight.

Translation by His Divine Grace’s disciples. Śrīla Prabhupāda translated up to the Fourteenth Chapter of the Tenth Canto then a group of Prabhupāda’s disciples collectively continued the mission of completing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. All the translations were mainly done by Gopīparāṇadana Prabhu.

Translation

“Certainly this particular gopī has perfectly worshiped the all-powerful Personality of Godhead, Govinda, since He was so pleased with Her that He abandoned the rest of us and brought Her to a secluded place.”

Purport

Śrīla Viṣvanātha Cakravartī explains that the word ārādhitaḥ refers to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He comments, “The sage Śukadeva Gosvāmī has tried with all endeavor to keep Her name hidden, but now it automatically shines forth from the moon of his mouth. That he has spoken Her name is indeed Her mercy, and thus the word ārādhitaḥ is like the rumbling of a kettledrum sounded to announce Her great good fortune.”

Although the gopīs spoke as if jealous of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, they were actually ecstatic to see that She had captured Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

Śrīla Viṣvanātha Cakravartī quotes the following detailed description of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s footprints, as given by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in his Śrī Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi: “At the base of the large toe of Her left foot is the mark of a barleycorn, below that mark is a disc, below the disc is an umbrella, and below the umbrella is a bracelet. A vertical line extends from the middle of Her foot to the juncture of Her large and second toes. At the base of the middle toe is a lotus, below that is a flag with a banner, and below the flag is a creeper, together with a flower. At the base of Her small toe is an elephant goad, and upon Her heel is a half-moon. Thus there are eleven marks on Her left foot.

“At the base of the large toe of Her right foot is a conch shell, and below that a spear. At the base of the small toe of Her right foot is a sacrificial altar, below that an earring, and below the earring a club. Along the base of the second, third, fourth and small toes is the mark of a mountain, below which is a chariot, and on the heel is a fish.

“Thus all together there are nineteen distinguishing marks on the soles of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī ‘s lotus feet.”

[End of purport]

This has been included in this particular verse mainly because the gopīs were following the footsteps. They could identify Kṛṣṇa’s footsteps and next to Kṛṣṇa’s footsteps they could see these particular footsteps with these specific marks, which made them recognize that it was Rādhārāṇī that Kṛṣṇa has left the rāsa māṇdalī with. Kṛṣṇa’s feet also bare some specific marks and that is how they recognized the foot prints of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet in the dust of Vṛndāvana.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the personification of Kṛṣṇa’s hlādinī-śakti, the pleasure potency. Kṛṣṇa has innumerable potencies, but they are specified principally in three categories, sandhinī, saṁvit and hlādinī. The sandhinī potency is the existence aspect. Saṁvit is the consciousness aspect and hlādinī is the pleasure aspect. Sat, cit and ānanda. Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of pleasure and all the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa is provided by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Therefore Rādhārāṇī’s position is so special.

All of Kṛṣṇa’s paraphernalia is supplied by Balarāma. Whenever Kṛṣṇa needs something it is Balarāma who actually manifests himself in that form. If Kṛṣṇa needs to lie on a bed, Balarāma becomes His bed. In the Garbha Ocean, Kṛṣṇa needed to lie in the Garbha Ocean then Balarāma became Ananta Śeṣa for Kṛṣṇa to lie on. In the temple all the articles of worship for Kṛṣṇa are actually expansions of Balarāma, or manifestations of Balarāma. The cāmara, the lamp, all the articles for worship of Kṛṣṇa are actually expansions of Balarāma.

In a similar way all of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure aspects are simply based on Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī manifests herself for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure. Apparently Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared as the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu and Kīrtidā Sundarī. In Vṛndāvana Kṛṣṇa performs his human-like pastimes – nara-līlā. He appears as a human being, as a human child and therefore he takes birth. His father is Nanda Mahārāja and His mother is Yaśodā-mayī. Similarly all Kṛṣṇa’s other associates of Vṛndāvana also took birth in different cowherd families. There are some very aristocratic cowherd families. One such family is King Vṛṣabhānu’s family and Rādhārāṇī appeared as Vṛṣabhānu’s daughter.

In the Lalita-mādhava drama Śrīla Rūpa Gosvsāmī is giving another aspect of Rādhārāṇī’s appearance. He is mentioning that Vinda mountain became rather envious hearing that Himālaya’s daughter got married to Lord Śiva. Himālaya is a mountain and he is a mountain, Vinda mountain. So Vinda felt that he must exceed Himālaya. Himālaya’s daughter got married to Lord Śiva so he wanted to have a daughter who would have a husband who is even greater than Lord Śiva. Therefore he performed a lot of austerities, which led to a sacrifice conducted by great sages. As a result of that he got two daughters. Soon after their birth Pūtanā was killing all the children and she stole these two daughters. When she was flying through the sky, seeing the daughters had been stolen by Pūtanā, the brāhmaṇas in the assembly of King Vinda started to recite the rākṣasī nidhana mantra, the mantra that would kill the rākṣasī. Being afraid of that Pūtanā dropped these two babies and they fell on two lotuses in the river Yamunā. They were floating by and King Vṛṣabhānu found one girl and King Candrabhānu found the other girl floating in the river. The daughter that Vṛṣabhānu found was Radharani and the one that Candrabhānu found was Candrāvalī. So this is another aspect of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s appearance that Śrīla Rūpa Gosvsāmī described in Lalita-mādhava.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the personification of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure potency. Kṛṣṇa is the source of all pleasure. Kṛṣṇa is ānanda-maya. Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all pleasure. All the pleasure of Kṛṣṇa is supplied by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Rādhārāṇī is the personification of the pleasure potency. In the spiritual sky everything is personalised, but in the material nature everything is material. Even our bodies are material, made of matter. Everything here is made of matter and in the spiritual sky everything is conscious, everything is personified. Cin-mayī, cit-mayī, the conscious world and the consciousness comes from personalities. So they are all persons. Kṛṣṇa’s pillow is a person, Kṛṣṇa’s bed is a person and the land of Vṛndāvana is a person. Yamunā is a person who is flowing here as a river, but in the spiritual world Yamunā is a person. In the spiritual world the Gaṅgā is a person and these are all Kṛṣṇa’s associates.

In the spiritual world Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is considered to be the topmost of all devotees. That is why we selected this particular verse. Often less informed people say that Rādhārāṇī has not been mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, but here we can see how our ācāryas have pointed out that Rādhārāṇī has been mentioned. Truth behind Rādhārāṇī, the identity of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is so exalted that ordinary people may not understand. That is why she has been kept somewhat hidden in the presentation of Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. But time and time again it has become revealed, like it has been revealed here. Rādhā has not been mentioned, but the root of Rādhārāṇī’s name, why Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is Rādhā, has been revealed through this verse – anayārādhitaḥ, ārādhana. The word ārādhana means devotional service, worship – ārādhana. The one who is the most expert in ārādhana is Rādhā. That is what has been pointed out here. No one can compare to her in service. In devotion she is the most exalted and she is actually the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa. All of Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure is resting in her.

All the individuals for Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure are her expansions. Kṛṣṇa performs His pastimes in Vṛndāvana through His loving exchanges with the gopīs and all the gopīs are expansions of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Sometimes it seems that some gopīs are competing with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, for example Candrāvali. In a way she is a competitor. She tries to take Kṛṣṇa away and it seems that it is a competition, but she is also Rādhārāṇī’s expansion. Actually she is the first expansion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, but apparently she is a competitor. Now why this competition? To increase this loving exchange. It has been pointed out by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, aher iva gatih premnah [CC Mad 8:111]. Love does not move in a straight line. Love’s movement is like the movement of a serpent, like a snake. It moves not in a straight line and that is caused by obstacles. There are obstacles. Apparent obstacles actually make the loving exchange so exciting, so relishable. That is what is happening in Vṛndāvana.

Some people think that these relationships between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs of Vṛndāvana are inappropriate, improper.

They even say, “Why Kṛṣṇa acted in such a way?”

They think that it is not right. The moralists think that way, but the actual understanding is that Kṛṣṇa is the supreme proprietor. Kṛṣṇa owns everything, Kṛṣṇa owns everybody, everybody belongs to Kṛṣṇa. So if the proprietor enjoys something how can there be anything wrong in that? This arrangement has been made by yogamāyā so that this loving exchange becomes so much more relishable. Apparently Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is married to somebody else. Rādhārāṇī is married to Abhimanyu or Ain. Many of the gopīs are married to different cowherd boys, so it seems that the relationships between Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs are like loving relationships with somebody else’s wives. But we have to understand that this is simply to enhance the loving exchange.

In this respect there is an anecdote with Śrīla Prabhupāda. Prabhupāda was in Philadelphia at that time and in Philadelphia there was a professor who was quite well known in those days. He was from India, he was a Bengali and that person, when he came to meet Śrīla Prabhupāda, was telling Prabhupāda the same thing – that it is not right what Kṛṣṇa did in Vṛndāvana. Prabhupāda tried to explain this point that this is Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for Him there is no question of moral or immoral. Whatever He does is the height of morality. But this person kept on arguing with Śrīla Prabhupāda, no it was immoral. Finally Śrīla Prabhupāda told him that your relationship with your wife is immoral because you have stolen Kṛṣṇa’s property and claiming that she is your wife. After that he kept quiet.

That is why Kṛṣṇa’s Vṛndāvana pastimes have been kept a secret because common people, less informed people, will not understand. The understanding has become clear, especially about Kṛṣṇa’s  mādhurya-līlā, or conjugal relationships with the gopīs of Vṛndāvana through Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s very intimate associate Vāsudeva Ghoṣa, in that respect, sang:

yadi gaura nā haita     tave ki haita

kemane dharitām de

radhāra mahimā      prema rasa sīmā

jagata jānāta ke

If Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Gaurāṅga, had not come, yadi gaura nā haita, if He had not come. If He did not manifest Himself in this world, then how would I have maintained my body, kemane dharitām de. Prema rasa sīmā, the height of loving exchange, radhāra mahimā, which is the glory of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, who would have revealed it to this world? If Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu had not come the world could not have understood the glory of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Mahāprabhu came to reveal the glory of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, to reveal the glory of Kṛṣṇa’s dealings with the cowherd damsels.

madhura vṛndā     vipina mādhurī

praveśa cāturī sāra

varaja yuvati     bhāvera bhakati

śakati haita ka’ra

Śakati ha-ita ka’ra? Who would have had the ability, the strength, to understand the loving exchanges between Kṛṣṇa and the youthful damsels of Vraja? Varaja yuvati, the youthful damsels of Vraja. Kṛṣṇa’s dealings with the youthful damsels of Vraja, in the forest of Vṛndāvana. Who would ever have understood that? So it is due to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s mercy that we get to know who Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is.

Another way of looking at it is prior to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu most of the people used to think that Kṛṣṇa is an incarnation of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu. Generally in this material nature Kṛṣṇa’s incarnations are expansions of Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, so they used to think that Kṛṣṇa is an expansion of Ksirodakasayi Visnu. Although in the Bhāgavatam it clearly mentions ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam [SB 1.3.28]. In the Bhāgavatam it has been clearly mentioned, after describing twenty-two different incarnations and mentioning that there are innumerable incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. Just as there are innumerable waves, uncountable waves in the ocean, there are inconceivably uncountable incarnations of Kṛṣṇa. But they are ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ, they are Kṛṣṇa’s expansions and expansions of expansions. All the incarnations are expansions and expansions of kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He is not an incarnation. He is not an avatāra, He is the avatārī. He is the source of all incarnations. That has been revealed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, although it was mentioned in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, Brahma-saṁhimā and Viṣṇu-yāmala. Kṛṣṇa’s identity as the Supreme Personality of Godhead has been clearly established, govindam ādi-puruṣam [Brahma-saṁhitā].

rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan

nānāvatāram akarod bhuvaneṣu kintu

kṛṣṇa svayam samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo

[BS 5.39]

Kṛṣṇa has manifested Himself in various incarnations like Rāma, Nṛsiṁha Varāha and Kūrma, but Kṛṣṇa is the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, kṛṣṇa svayam samabhavat paramaḥ pumān yo,  govindam ādi-puruṣam tam ahaṁ bhajāmi.

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s identity has also been very beautifully revealed through the discussion between Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Rāmānanda Rāya. Mahāprabhu is asking him questions and Rāmānanda Rāya is answering. Just like sometimes the teacher, after teaching the student, questions the student. This is something like that. Kṛṣṇa is asking Rāmānanda Rāya. Kṛṣṇa instructed Arjuna and now Kṛṣṇa, as Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, is asking Arjuna Rāmānanda Rāya, “Rāmānanda what is the goal of life?”

Rāmānanda Rāya, quoting the scriptures, said, “Varṇāśrama.”

Mahāprabhu rejected that saying, “No, it is external.”

Rāmānanda Rāya said, “Karma-yoga.” Mahāprabhu replied, “No external.”

Rāmānanda Rāya said, “Karma-tyāga.” Mahāprabhu replied, “No external.”

He was rejecting, one after another. This is how the discussion came to the point of devotional service.

Then Mahāprabhu said, “Yes, pure devotional service, not mixed devotional service.”

Rāmānanda Rāya mentioned about karma-miśra-bhakti, yad karoṣi. He was substantiating those points by quoting from scriptures, how karma-yoga is the goal of life.

yad karoṣi yad aśnāsi

yad juhoṣi dadhāsi yad

yat tapasyasi kaunteya

tad kuruṣva mad arpaṇam

[BG 9.27]

Kṛṣṇa’s own words, “Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you give in charity, etc. You should do it for Me.”

But here Caitanya Mahāprabhu is rejecting that. Then coming to the point of jñāna-yoga, which means jñāna-miśra-bhakti, devotional service to the Lord mixed with jñāna, knowledge. He rejected that, but when it came to pure devotion, jñāna-karmady-anāvṛtam [BRS 1.1.11], then Caitanya Mahāprabhu accepted. At that point He said, “Yes, eho haya [CC Mad 8.68] that is right, tell Me what is beyond that.”

In this way through the questions and answers He is coming to the point of different types of devotion, śānta-rasa, dāsya-rasa, sakhya-rasa, vātsalya-rasa and mādhurya-rasa.

Rāmānanda Rāya describes that and then at that point Mahāprabhu is saying, “Tell me what is beyond that.”

Rāmānanda Rāya’s response was, “I did not know that anybody could ask what is beyond that, but You have been asking and You are actually providing me with the answers. It is You who is giving the answers. So if You empower me, if You bestow Your mercy, then probably I will be able to answer that.”

In this way Rāmānanda Rāya is coming to the point that Kṛṣṇa was dancing with sixteen thousand gopīs. In this dance there was one Kṛṣṇa between two gopīs. Kṛṣṇa was between two gopīs, but in the centre Kṛṣṇa was dancing with one gopī alone, so that gopī must be very special. Then Rāmānanda Rāya pointed out that at some point, although Kṛṣṇa was dancing with sixteen thousand gopīs, this gopī became somewhat upset, She left the rāsa-maṇḍalī and Kṛṣṇa followed Her. For Her sake Kṛṣṇa left sixteen thousand other gopīs, so this gopi must be very special. In this way through this discussion Rādhārāṇī’s identity became revealed, what is the glory of Srimati Radharani.

Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī in his Bṛhat Bhāgavatāmṛta, in both the parts, his objective is to come to the point of establishing Rādhārāṇī’s identity as the greatest of all devotees. The first part is describing Nārada Muni’s search for this devotee. He is looking for the greatest devotee. He starts from a brāhmaṇa who is worshiping at the confluence of Yamuna and Ganga in Prayag. He was so impressed with brāhmaṇa’s service, the way he worshiped the Lord in the form of śālagrāma-śīlā. He was very impressed.

Then he goes and tells him, “You are the greatest devotee of the Lord.”

But this person says, “No, no, no. I am not the greatest devotee. There is a king in South India, he is the greatest devotee.”

He is giving the reasons why that king is the greatest devotee.

He explained, “I am a brāhmaṇa. My occupation is to worship, but he is a kṣatriya, he is a warrior. His business is to rule the kingdom, but in spite of that the way he is serving the Lord, that makes him the greatest devotee.”

So Nārada Muni goes to that king, but he points out, “No, no, I am not the greatest devotee. Indra is the greatest devotee.”

Then Nārada goes to Indra, but he says, “Brahma is the greatest devotee.”

He goes to Brahma and he says, “Lord Śiva is the greatest devotee.”

Then Nārada goes to Lord Śiva and Śiva says, “No, no. I am not the greatest devotee. The residents of Vaikuṇṭha are the greatest devotees.”

Also Pārvatī said, “Among the residents of Vaikuṇṭha, Lakṣmi-devī is the greatest devotee.”

Then Nārada Muni is about to go to Vaikuṇṭha, but Lord Śiva said, “Even greater than the residents of Vaikuṇṭha is Prahlāda. His devotion is even greater than the devotion of residents of Vaikuntha.”

He goes to Prahlāda Mahārāja and Prahlāda Mahārāja said, “I am not the greatest devotee. What kind of devotion did you see in me? As a child I developed some attachment to the Lord, but devotion means service. Expression of devotion is through service. Look at the kind of service Hanuman rendered. He is the greatest devotee.”

Nārada goes to Hanumān and when Nārada tells him that he is the greatest devotee, Hanumān points out that the Pāṇḍavas are the greatest devotees. He goes to the Pāṇḍavas, but they point out that the residents of Dvārakā are the greatest devotees.

He goes to Dvārakā, but the residence say. “Uddhava is the greatest devotee.”

Uddhava says, “No, the residents of Vṛndāvana are the greatest devotees.”

In this way in Vṛndāvana Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s position has been established as the greatest devotee of all.

In a very systematic way Sanātana Gosvāmī established the different levels of devotion and out of all those Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s position is the most exalted. Apparently Krsna’s relationship with Rādhārāṇī is arranged with all kinds of impediments. Sometimes devotees feel bad why King Vṛṣabhānu had to get Her married to Abhimanyu? The general feeling is why not with Krsna? But this yogamāyā’s divine arrangement to enhance Krsna’s pastimes. The understanding is that although Rādhārāṇī was apparently married to Abhimanyu he could never touch Her. He never touched Her. That is the pastimes of Krsna. Not only She is married to somebody else, but there is a great impediment there in the form of Abhimanyu’s mother and sister. Rādhārāṇī’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law; their business is just to prevent Her meeting Kṛṣṇa. They suspect something is going on, but they could not catch Them red-handed even though they are trying.

In Nectar of Devotion Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is describing one anecdote. One day Abhimanyu went away to some distant place and taking advantage of that Kṛṣṇa came in the form of Abhimanyu.

So Abhimanyu’s mother seeing Him asked, “What happened? You are supposed to be away, but You came back.”

He said, “Mother I was missing you so much. I thought I will do the job later on sometime. I will just come back to you.”

Jaṭilā was very happy and she said, “Go inside and relax.”

So He goes inside of the house.

In the meantime real Abhimanyu comes back and Jaṭilā asks, “Who are you?”

He says, “Mother you cannot recognise me? I am your son.”

So Jaṭilā picks up a broom and starts to beat him up saying, “Yes you are my son, this is the kind of son that you are.”

Then finally when they got to know who is the real Abhimanyu and who is the fake Abhimanyu they go inside and in the meantime Kṛṣṇa as Abhimanyu ran away. So in this way they see that something is going on between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhārāṇī, but they cannot catch Them.

They are just waiting, “Someday if we can catch Them then we can prove to the world what is going on.”

One day Kuṭilā, Abhimanyu’s sister, heard some talking is going on. She could hear something from Rādhārāṇī’s room. She came close to the room and eavesdropped. She was completely convinced that it was Krsna. So she thought, “Now I am going to catch Them.”

But as soon as she opened the door, Krsna just jumped out the window and ran away. She saw Krsna running away, but she could not catch Him.

She thought to herself, “Again another chance of catching Krsna has been lost.”

This time she found something, she saw that on the bed Krsna forgot His flute. In His hurry Krsna forgot His flute, so she said, “I got you today.”

She took the flute and dragged Rādhārāṇī to the courtyard, called everybody and started to describe what actually happened, how today she caught Her red-handed. [Confronted in this way] Rādhārāṇī, [stood] with Her head bent down and shedding tears.

At that time Purnamasi came there and said, “What happened? Why my Rādhikā is crying and why did you all gather here like this?”

Then Kuṭilā very elaborately started to describe what happened. Pūrṇamāsī started to laugh.

Kuṭilā got very upset and said, “This is such a serious matter and you are laughing!”

Then Pūrṇamāsī said, “Do you not know that last night there was a shower of flutes? Kuṭilā, let us go to your bedroom.”

They went to Kuṭilā’s bedroom and found three flutes there on the bed.

Pūrṇamāsī said, “Jaṭilā let us go to your bedroom.”

There were twelve flutes on her bed. This how Krsna performs His pastimes in Vṛndāvanaa.

In this kind of situation Rādhārāṇī feels very bad that people are thinking She is unchaste, but She cannot help it. She cannot help but love Kṛṣṇa with all Her existence. Therefore She decided that She will give up Her body.

She felt, “It is pointless maintaining this body. Maybe in My next life I will be born [in a situation where] I will be able to be with Krsna all the time.”

At that time Kṛṣṇa understood what was going on [within Rādhārāṇī’s heart]. He was on the lap of Mother Yaśodā and all of a sudden Kṛṣṇa fainted.

Mother Yaśodā screamed, “What happened to my child?”

Everyone came running. Nanda Mahārāja came running and Mother Yaśodā started to tell him, “Please go and get a doctor. Quickly, you see my son what happened, He became unconscious. It seems that there is no sign of life in His body.”

Nanda Mahārāja just ran out of the house. Fortunately he saw one doctor there coming in his direction.

So he asked him, “Are you a doctor?”

Actually in the Vedic culture by dress you can make out a person’s occupation. The brāhmaṇas would dress in a certain way, the kṣatriyas would dress in a another way and so forth. From his dress Nanda Mahārāja could recognise that he was an Āyurvedic doctor.

Nanda Mahārāja told him, “My son all of a suddenly fainted. Can you please do something about this?

The doctor said, “Do not worry. I can even make a dead man come alive.”

The doctor came to the house and checked Kṛṣṇa.

He said, “It is a very serious condition. There is only one remedy for this. The remedy is water from the Yamunā.”

Then everyone said, “Yamunā water, there is plenty of it. We will get it.”

The doctor said, “No no, not just water from Yamunā, this water has to be carried in a bucket with thousands of holes in it.”

Then everyone said, “How is it possible to carry water in a bucket that has so many holes in it?”

He said, “Yes, I know that it is practically impossible. Only a chaste woman can carry water in this bucket.”

Mother Yaśodā said, “Then I will take the bucket and get it.”

The doctor said, “No, no. If the mother does it then will not work.”

So different ladies and girls of Vṛndāvana tried, but as soon as they lifted the bucket from the water all the water drained out.

Then the doctor said, “This is a very serious situation. It seems that there is no chaste woman in Vṛndāvana. Anyway let Me see.”

So he made some astrological calculation and he said, “There are two persons who are really chaste in Vṛndāvana. Who are they? Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā.”

Everyone ran to Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā and told them what happened. They were very happy.

They said, “Long live that doctor. He really recognized who is who.”

Proudly they walked to the house of Nanda Mahārāja.

Kuṭilā said, “Mother, why should you take the trouble? You are old. So I will go and get it.”

Very proudly she picked up the bucket, walked to the river and dipped the bucket in the water, but as soon as she picked up the bucket all the water fell out.

Jaṭilā started to shout, “You are a disgrace to our family! Drown yourself in the Yamunā.”

Saying that, very proudly she picked up the bucket. She walked up to the river and dipped it into the water, but again as soon as she took it out of the water, the water fell out.

So the situation was very precarious.

The doctor said, “What to do now? Anyway, let me make some more calculations.”

This time another name came out.

The doctor said, “This is the only one in Vṛndāvana who is really chaste.”

Everyone was very eager to know who that was.

The doctor said, “Rādhikā.”

Everyone was very excited, but Jaṭilā and Kuṭilā started to laugh, “Radhika! Chaste! He must be joking?.”

Mother Yaśodā did not listen to anything. She just ran to the house and told Rādhikā.

Rādhikā said, “Already I have enough criticism and trouble, please don’t subject me to another embarrassing situation.”

Then mother Yaśodā said, “Rādhā it is a matter of Kṛṣṇa’s life. You have to come. You are the only hope.”

Due to her persuasion Rādhārāṇī agreed to come. With a heavy heart and a bowed head she quietly came to the house. With a shaking hand she picked up the bucket, walked up to the river and dipped it into the water. As soon as she picked the bucket out of the water, not a single drop fell out. Then the water was brought to that doctor and the doctor chanted some mantra and sprinkled some water over Kṛṣṇa’s body and Kṛṣṇa got up. In this way Kṛṣṇa proved that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the most chaste of all women.

Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī also mentioned in his Rādhikā-aṣṭakam that She is worshiped by the most chaste of all chaste women; Sati, Parvati, they are considered to be the most chaste of the ladies. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is worshipable even for them. So this is how Krishna proved the ultimate consideration of chastity.

Now, who is the doctor? I am sure you all could imagine. Who is the doctor that came? Kṛṣṇa Himself. He expanded Himself as a doctor and He treated Kṛṣṇa. In this way time and time again it has been pointed out that Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the best of all the devotees. The ultimate consideration is one’s love for Kṛṣṇa. That is what really matters. The ultimate perfection of our life is to develop our love for Kṛṣṇa. That loving exchange is in its epitome in the loving exchange that Kṛṣṇa has with the gopīs of Vṛndāvana. Among all the gopīs of Vṛndāvana Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the ultimate loving object of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa assuming that mood of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī revealed the glory of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. Kṛṣṇa came with the mood and complexion of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī as Śrī Chaitanya Mahāprabhu and He revealed the identity of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. He revealed the highest aspect of Kṛṣṇa’s identity of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, He revealed the highest aspect of Krishna’s pastimes in Vṛndāvana through His loving exchange with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī. That is what Kṛṣṇa consciousness means.

Chanting of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare, is actually indicating Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī with Kṛṣṇa. The mahā-mantra is the ultimate loving manifestation in Vṛndāvana. [Sanskrit unclear] These inconceivable pastimes of Kṛṣṇa in the forests of Vṛndāvana are the ultimate spiritual exchange between the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His eternal consort. That is the highest aspect of the spiritual dealings. That is the topmost activity of the spiritual sky. In the reflection the highest appears to be the lowest. Therefore Kṛṣṇa’s activities, Kṛṣṇa’s exchanges with Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and the damsels of Vṛndāvana, when they are reflected in the material nature, are considered the most degraded activity. To understand this point we can simply consider; what is the difference between material and spiritual? The difference between material and spiritual is when we put our self as the center. That is material, but when we put Krishna in the center that is spiritual. When a living entity imitates Kṛṣṇa in that way, it is the most degraded activity. But with Krishna that activity is the height of spiritual activity it is the height of devotional service.

Thank you all very much.

Srimati Radharani ki jaya! Gaura premande! Hari Haribol!

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Transcription : Radha Piyari Dasi

Editing : Radha Piyari Dasi & Shyamananda Krishna Dasa